One Year Pray for America Bible - Flipbook - Page 122
January 29
refuse to let the people go to sacrifice
to the Lord.”
30 So M
oses left Pharaoh’s palace
and pleaded with the Lord to remove
all the flies. 31 And the Lord did as
Moses asked and caused the swarms
of flies to disappear from Pharaoh, his
officials, and his people. Not a single
fly remained. 32 But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the
people go.
9:1 “Go
back to Pharaoh,” the Lord
commanded M
oses. “Tell him, ‘This
is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so they
can worship me. 2 If you continue to
hold them and refuse to let them go,
3 the hand of the Lord will strike all
your livestock—your horses, donkeys,
camels, cattle, sheep, and g
oats—with
a deadly plague. 4 But the Lord will
again make a distinction between the
livestock of the Israelites and that of
the Egyptians. Not a single one of Is
rael’s animals will die! 5 The Lord has
already set the time for the plague to
begin. He has declared that he will
strike the land tomorrow.’”
6 And the Lord did just as he had
said. The next morning all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but the
Israelites didn’t lose a single animal.
7 Pha
raoh sent his officials to investigate, and they discovered that the
Israelites had not lost a single animal!
But even so, Pharaoh’s heart remained
stubborn,* and he still refused to let
the people go.
8 Then the Lord said to Moses and
Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a
brick kiln, and have Moses toss it into
the air while Pharaoh watches. 9 The
ashes will spread like fine dust over
the whole land of Egypt, causing festering boils to break out on people and
animals throughout the land.”
10 So they took soot from a brick kiln
and went and stood before Pharaoh.
As Pharaoh watched, Moses threw the
soot into the air, and boils broke out
on people and animals alike. 11 Even
the magicians were unable to stand
before Moses, because the boils had
112
broken out on them and all the Egyptians. 12 But the Lord hardened Pha
raoh’s heart, and just as the Lord had
predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused
to listen.
13 Then the Lord said to M
oses, “Get
up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘This is what
the Lord, the God of the Hebrews,
says: Let my people go, so they can
worship me. 14 If you don’t, I will send
more plagues on you* and your officials and your people. Then you will
know that there is no one like me in
all the earth. 15 By now I could have
lifted my hand and struck you and
your people with a plague to wipe
you off the face of the earth. 16 But I
have spared you for a p
urpose—to
show you my power* and to spread
my fame throughout the earth. 17 But
you still lord it over my people and
refuse to let them go. 18 So tomorrow
at this time I will send a hailstorm
more devastating than any in all the
history of Egypt. 19 Quick! Order your
livestock and servants to come in from
the fields to find shelter. Any person or
animal left outside will die when the
hail falls.’”
20 Some of Pharaoh’s officials were
afraid because of what the Lord had
said. They quickly brought their servants and livestock in from the fields.
21 But those who paid no attention to
the word of the Lord left theirs out in
the open.
22 Then the Lord said to
Moses,
“Lift your hand toward the sky so hail
may fall on the people, the livestock,
and all the plants throughout the land
of Egypt.”
23 So
Moses lifted his staff toward
the sky, and the Lord sent thunder
and hail, and lightning flashed toward the earth. The Lord sent a tremendous hailstorm against all the
land of Egypt. 24 Never in all the history of Egypt had there been a storm
like that, with such devastating hail
and continuous lightning. 25 It left all
of Egypt in ruins. The hail struck down
everything in the open field—people,
animals, and plants alike. Even the